Shadows of the Night
by Psychomanaic
Summary: Strange things are happening in the DBZ world and no one knows what. Is anyone safe in the dark? Is there any way to stop the terror that no one knows how to stop?
1. Default Chapter

**Disclaimer**: I don't own DBZ.

**Shadows of the Night**

**Prologue**

-

Lightning and thunder cackled and boomed in the surrounding area of the forest, every few seconds spreading light among the trees. A downpour started to come and all the living things ran for cover. That is, everything except a lone figure.

He stood in a little clearing in the forest, away from any shelter as his skin was already soaked to the bone and his clothes were in no better shape. But he wasn't looking at himself. He was staring at a little orange, glowing ball in his hand. It kept glowing despite the conditions of the weather around it. The man smiled.

On the ground, six other orange balls were scattered about in a circle of imperfect shape. The man's smile widened. It had taken him decades to find the Dragon balls and he had found them at last. A huge lightning bolt flashed and in a few seconds struck a tree in the forest, setting a forest fire blazing instantly. The man paid no heed. Another lightning bolt flashed as the shadows of trees were seen in the clearing, as also tiny shadows of the balls.

A squirrel, intelligent enough to pick up on small details, peeked out from the branches of the closest tree. A raindrop splattered onto its nose and it wrinkled it, shaking its head to get it clean. Then something on the ground caught the squirrel's attention. A man with seven weird-looking round objects was there, and when another lightning bolt flashed, the squirrel saw the shadows of the trees, but not any of the like from the man. It seemed the man didn't have a shadow. The squirrel scurried away in fear.

Back on the solid earth, the man continued to stare deeply at the ball. It had taken him so long to find this... this object of salvation and destruction. If he was an ordinary man, he'd be long ago dead. But since he wasn't, it really didn't bother him. A little half a mile away, the forest fire continued to blaze and grow in length, and the man could feel the heat from it already. Deciding it best to hurry up, he tossed the last Dragon ball into the middle of the six already waiting.

Calling out in a big, rather dark voice, the man yelled, "Shenron, come out and grant me my two wishes of power!"

The orange balls glowed yellow for a split second, then an enormous shadow of yellow energy burst forth from them, twirling and circling around in the sky, a huge and massive sight to behold. That is, if any one could see it. The man knew the thunderstorm was the perfect cover for the summoning.

The yellow energy faded and in its place was a large green dragon, its look alone able to bring fear into a man's heart if he weren't ready for it. But the man was.

"**Speak! Speak your wish," **demanded the Eternal Dragon, Shenron, his red eyes glaring down at the man who had summoned him. He had no time for waiting, only time to grant wishes and disappear back into his lair far, far away.

"My first wish, oh mighty Shenron," the man said in a sarcastic tone, getting a deeper glare from the dragon, "... is my palace be constructed in a place I've previously chosen. Search my mind and find it for I know you are able to grant that."

Shenron's eyes glowed a dark red as he floated in the sky in complete silence. A few seconds later, his eyes turned to a normal red and he said in a booming voice, "**Your first wish is granted. What is your second wish?"**

The man smiled, showing a pair of sharp, pointy teeth at the edges of his mouth. He seemed to be taking his lovely time. "My second wish is for my strength to match that of my life – immortal and never-ending."

Shenron seemed to size the man up, and his eyes glowed once more. **"Your wish is granted and I now bid you farewell." **He disappeared as the Dragon balls glowed orange again and flew up into the sky, ready to disperse across the planet. But before they could, the man flew up in a split second and grabbed one of them, the others trailing out a second later across the globe.

The man landed smoothly on the ground and gave another smirk. "They can't stop me now. How can they summon the Eternal Dragon with only six Dragon balls?" He laughed into the night.

---

Any questions might be answered, depending on what it is. If you're intrigued, please, hit the 'review' button and let me know and I shall continue on with this story. I only need 3 to know this story is wanted, so don't be shy. I won't bite... much.


	2. Chapter 2: Double Kidnap

**Disclaimer**: I don't own DBZ.

**Shadows of the Night**

**Chapter 1**

**-**

Goku awoke to the brilliant aroma of cooking food. Excited to see what breakfast Chi-Chi was cooking today, he jumped out of bed and rushed to put his clothes on. When he was about to walk out the door, Goten was exiting his own room. Goten turned and saw his dad. He laughed.

"Daddy... You're funny." Goku gave his son a look that said he didn't understand, then he looked down and saw he was wearing everything mixed around oddly. For one thing, his pants were inside out, as were his socks. For another, he only had one arm through his own shirt.

"Oops..." he murmured and ran back inside the room to change. After a few minutes, he came out wearing all his clothes correctly and walked down the stairs to the kitchen, the smell from the food growing, making it impossible for Goku to resist. "Oh boy! What are you cooking today, Chi-Chi?"

"The same as usual, Goku. Why do you ask?" His wife replied, flipping some pancakes over the stove in her frying pan.

"Nothing really. It just smelled so wonderful," Goku told her and sat down at his side of the table, trying to wait patiently for the food to be served. Chi-Chi gave a smile.

"Alright, Goku. I'll cook a little more for you." Goku's eyes shone bright, as did his two sons'.

---

After breakfast, Goku, Gohan and Goten headed out to the meadow to spar for fun. It was the father versus the sons, and the match was even. They agreed not to go Super Saiyan since they might tear up the landscape and badly damage the land near their home. Goku held his own against Gohan and Goten with ease.

Ducking underneath a punch, Goku landed a light kick to Goten's arm and Goten backed off, slightly in pain. His small body still wasn't suited to his father's blows too well. Gohan tried to hit his dad with a punch to the head, but Goku vanished before the punch landed and Gohan had to steady himself upright from falling headfirst into the wet ground below. He turned around and flew backwards a few feet to scan around for his dad.

Goten tried to help too in the search for his father's next on-coming strike. He turned his back to his older brother when he heard him yell, "Goten! Behind you! Duck!" Goten instinctively ducked down as he felt a sweep of a kick graze the top of his tiny head. It had been a close call. Goten landed on the ground and looked up at Goku.

"Daddy... I think I'm done. I'm tired already." Goku gave his youngest son a long look, wondering why, but he nodded and turned his eyes to his oldest son. Gohan shrugged a bit and sighed.

"I think I'm going to quit too for now. I need to take a rest. You're just a little too strong for us, dad." He smiled nervously and followed Goten inside. Goku dropped down onto the soggy ground last, a small breeze whipping his hair lightly. He ignored it.

"Okay... A spar cut short. Oh well..." Goku just about went to the door when a rustling in the woods nearby made him stop. It wasn't uncommon to hear little creatures scurry about the forest, but this... sound was made by something larger, possibly something dangerous. Goku faced the forest with a hard, somewhat grim face. "Who's there?" He called out, his muscles tensing. Something told him whatever was in there wasn't friendly.

More rustling was heard and Goku thought he saw a pair of red eyes glowing angrily at him from behind the brush. But as soon as he locked eyes with them, they disappeared into the dark. "Strange..." Was all Goku could murmur, relaxing slightly. He waited for a few more minutes in case the thing might come back but no such thing occurred and so Goku turned his back and trailed inside, the incident vanishing somewhere into the recesses of his mind.

---

Night settled like a looming black cloud over West City and the occupants of Capsule Corp. building were snoozing peacefully. That is, until a tapping sound awoke the little boy, Trunks. It was a delicate, feeble-sounding noise, but nonetheless, Trunks was a bit disturbed by it. The sound sounded like it came from outside his window, and that chilled him to the bone. Something was trying to get in, more or less, and he didn't plan on having any midnight company coming over at this time of night.

Getting out of bed silently, Trunks tip-toed over to the window and peered out of it. Nothing was moving outside. He decided to look straight down, but that needed the window open and he was a little hesitant of opening it. Thinking that he could beat anything that tried to attack him, he finally made the decision to pry the window open and that he did, rather quietly so as not to awaken his parents, who were sleeping directly downstairs under him and would hear the slightest noise coming from his room.

He leaned out his head and found nothing greeting him. Perplexed he leaned out a bit farther to check and almost lost his balance. He quickly retracted his head and gave a sigh. He was safe... for tonight. Trunks turned his body and almost crossed the length of the room to his bed when he remembered he didn't shut the window closed. He retraced his footsteps back to the window and began to close it. It shut with a tiny click and he turned...

To be greeted by the rising shadow of unconsciousness.

---

Goten sat straight up in bed. He had this tingling in the corner of his mind as though something bad just happened. He got out of his bed and crossed to his door, stopping. Should he tell his dad? Or should he leave him alone till morning? He really wanted to tell his dad, but was it in his spot to actually do that at this time of night? Goten shook his head. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to wake his father and worry him over a little twinge of pain in his head.

He turned and climbed back into bed. He would tell it at another time, another day. Then a tap came on the door, a soft, delicate tap. Goten felt... afraid of it for some reason and he peeked out from underneath his covers. No one or nothing was there, at his window. Curiosity getting the best of him, Goten got out of bed and padded quietly to the window, opening it. He immediately wished he hadn't as a dark shadow of a looming figure appeared on the window sill, wind sweeping into the room with the chilly feel of snow.

Goten gave a tiny cry for help, but he was quickly stifled by a clawed hand and he struggled, flailing his legs fruitlessly. He heard words being whispered and felt his mind shut down, falling into the darkness of unconsciousness.


	3. Chapter 3: Missing Sons

**Disclaimer**: I don't own DBZ.

**Shadows of the Night**

**Chapter 2**

**-**

Goku's eyes snapped open. Something was wrong. Seriously wrong. He hopped out of bed and glanced out the window. There were stars in the sky winking back at him and the three-quarter moon was smiling at him. "Odd…" He murmured to himself. What had awakened him?

He exited the room quietly, not awaking Chi-Chi for fear of her going off for him waking her in the early morning. He could imagine it wouldn't be a pretty sight. He first checked the hallway carefully. No disturbance he could see was present. Carefully crossing the hall in silence, he came up to his youngest son's room. Hopefully nothing was wrong in here.

Goku opened the door to see everything neat and orderly, but there was no trace of Goten. "Son?" He called out into the room. No answer replied. Goku took a few steps inside the room and glanced about. Everything was still as it was when he left earlier after telling his son goodnight, but he couldn't see Goten yet. "Goten?" He asked a bit louder, hoping for any kind of a reply. Even then did he not get a response.

Fear whelmed up inside of Goku. Where was his son? "Goten?" He yelled in hopes again. Still not a single sound came to Goku's ears, besides his own voice. A single thought came to his mind, and he knew it to be true:

_My son is missing._

He closed his eyes and put two fingers to his forehead, trying to search for his son's ki. He couldn't feel him at all, a sign of something amiss. _Darn it! Where is my son?_ He continued to stand stock still in the room, searching fruitlessly for his son's ki, well into the early morning hours with the sun's rays starting to shine through the window.

Goku heard footsteps slowly coming down the stairs and he knew Chi-Chi was up, heading either to the kitchen to fix breakfast or coming to look for him. His second assumption was correct as Chi-Chi appeared at the door, a look of fear on her face.

"Goku, what are you doing in here? Where's Goten?" Her voice was full of concern with an outline of a certain kind of fear. Goku stood silently for a few minutes then dropped his hand to the side. Chi-Chi heard a small, crying sound and when Goku turned to look at her, he didn't seem like the carefree hero he always was, but rather a terrified, sad father who missed his son, tears streaking his face.

"I can't find him…" Goku replied, and the voice of him was a hollow one. Goku had lost his innocent nature in a split second. Chi-Chi could say nothing but stand there and look at him, shocked beyond all comprehension. Her youngest _son _was _missing._ And she hadn't known until after hours it happened. Suddenly all feelings of grief erupted into her and she began to shake terribly.

"My son is… gone…" Once after she mumbled that little piece of fact, she screamed, "MY SON IS GONE!!!" so loud that the house shook on its foundation. Goku only looked at her with a sorry expression. Hopelessness quickly arose inside the Earth's Hero's body.

---

"WHERE IS MY SON?!"

Vegeta gave a groan. "Shut it woman. Like I would know." He immediately knew he said the wrong words as Bulma got into his face – literally.

"How DARE you TELL ME OFF, VEGETA!!! OUR SON IS MISSING AND YOU'RE JUST STANDING THERE LIKE IT DOESN'T MATTER A BIT!!!" Vegeta plugged his ears with his fingers. His wife was being VERY annoying. He cared for his son, that was true, but he knew yelling and hollering wouldn't bring him back. And besides, he could just use Kakarot's Instant Transmission to find his son.

When silence followed Bulma's shouting, Vegeta unplugged his ears and stated quite calmly, "I do care, Bulma. I just take it better than you can." It seemed he couldn't say the right words to his wife for she was about to yell again, before Vegeta put his hand in front of her mouth. "I'm going to see Kakarot. I'll find our son." And with that he walked off.

Bulma stared at him, her face red from shouting and the look in her eyes with a mixture of emotions. Then she nodded and sighed. "I guess you're right, Vegeta. Go find him."

Vegeta gave a small laugh and smirked. "I plan to." He exited through the doors and flew off. Bulma watched him leave, her heart thudding in her chest.

"Find him, please…"

---

Trunks slowly opened his eyes. Dim lights met his eyes and he squinted to see through it all, through all the darkness. Moaning was heard next to him, to his left, and when he turned his head, he could make out a light outline of a small boy. "Goten?"

Goten perked his head up and glanced at Trunks. "Trunks?" He blinked, though Trunks couldn't see him do it through the dark. "What are you doing here? Where are we?"

"I don't know, Goten, I don't know." Trunks took in that they were in a small cell. Three of the four walls were iron bars, the bars too close together to allow them to squeeze through and escape. The one behind him, that his body was touching, was damp stone wall. Moisture floated in the air. _We're underground in a cave somewhere_ he soon realized, but that didn't give him much hope. They could be anywhere and for all he knew, many days could have passed by now.

Goten seemed to sense his friend's uncertainness, as he stayed silent and gazed forward. To their right, a door opened and light flooded the room, almost blinding their eyes with the light. A figure stepped into the light and walked up the edge of the cell, squatting down on the edge of his feet, bent over.

"How are you doing this fine morning?" His voice was gruff, and felt dark-possessing like. Trunks gave him a drop-dead look and the man clicked his tongue. "That's no way to treat someone who holds your life in his hands, now is it?" Goten shook his head in agreement. Trunks obviously knew his friend didn't understand the man was evil – he could feel it.

The man seemed satisfied with Goten's answer as he stood up and unlocked the cell door, opening it. "Now follow me, please." The man turned and left through the door, and Trunks and Goten exchanged glances and followed shortly behind him.


End file.
